PRIDE GOETH.....
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editricon PRIDE GOETH.....

I had a high regard for Mamta Banerjee when she was fighting alone for oppressed people, terrorised people under left rule of musclemen. She was daring and a self less leader who evolved all her byself with no political mentoring. Even Late Jyoti Basu could not disregard her despite her differences. She annoyed many a people in her long political career which included Narasimha Rao when she went out and floated Trinamool accusing Congress of being B team of Marxists. Her support base  was largely confined to Urban areas of Bengal and Kolkatta in particular.

During Singur and Nandigram agitations, she annoyed Ratan Tata and to her credit she brokered a peace formula through the then Governor of Bengal Gopal Krishna Gandhi which was not liked by Tata. This time her mass base transcended urban Bengal to rural pockets. She found a common cause with Maoists who were waging a war against the Leftists. She justified that the Maoists were drive to terrorism when the state failed to address their grievances. Celebrity people like Mahaswetha Devi, Swami Agnivesh Medha Patkar shared her dias and she was seen as the Tigress of Bengal who would break the Marxist citadel. Break the citadel she did very convincingly with an alliance with Congress party. But the margin of victory was hardly 4% but this was spread across the state that the mandate seemed overwhelming. But again Mamta was not prepared to accept the responsibility as her ways were still that of early rebellion. She un locked the lock up gates of a local police station to free partymen. She enacted a law for reclaiming Singur and Nandigram lands which was upheld by the High Court. This is being contested in the Supreme Court.

It has been more than 6 months since Mamta rode in to writers building which was used to be sieged by her mob during left rule many times. But she has not taken up the task of administering the state seriously. She blamed every failure of her government to the leftist misrule. Children deaths, spread of epidemic, everything was attributed to marxists. She occasionally used to throw tantrums at congress her new ally to remind them it is she who is the boss. It is said that it was she who spoilt the party for Manmohan Singh when she opposed FDI in retail. It was suggested in the media that Team Anna should use her as the bargaining tool instead of BJP because UPA II only fears her. She opposed after having passed the Lokpal bill in Loksabha while it was presented in Rajya Sabha. She cited about encroachment of State legislative powers enshrined in the consitution. The constituion gives overriding powers to centre to legislate on matters involving international conventions, treaties to which Lokpal belongs. She demanded the bill be renamed Lok Pal bill and not Lakpal and Lok Ayukt bill as she felt enactment of Lokayukt fall  under legislative domain of states

UPA was saved the day by the Chairperson of Rajyasabha- fleedom at midnight as Jaitley called it. M amtas stock went up again. Then started the barbaring. She took upon herself the task of renaming a heritage building Indira Bhavan where Jyoti Basu used to live as Nuzrul Bhavan. This offended the Congress more than FDI and Lokpal fiasco. It was a mean act by Mamta to get a building renamed especially after several years. She showed no sign of remorse started calling congress B  team of Marxists. The word war continued for a while before a truce was called but the egoes have been bruised. Didi has asked Congress to pack off and go. She feels the decimation of Left is entirely to  her own credit. This is not so. the 4% margin of votes will have been marginalised had she fought alone. Left Parties have a strong and dedicated work force and unless Mamta concentrates on governance issues, she will be a forgotten hero before too long. Bengal thinks today what India will think tomorrow so said Bal Gangadhar Thilak. B ut equally true Bengalis suffer from an inflated self esteem ,any innuendo however remotely connected to their icons like Nethaji, Tagore  Rabindra Sangeeth meets with vitriolic opposition. This is not good for Mamta who has after a long battle managed to get in to seat of power which she should use to serve her people, Mayawati for all her antics managed a 8% growth rate and may manage to come back- Rahuls charisma not withstanding.  She should not forget the past. This is the same mistake Jayalalitha oftren does. But she has more connections at power centres  Pride goeth before a fall so goes an adage. Mamta better watchout

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